


Cardemonde

by MysterySolver



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Gen, I wouldn't count on it, I'm really flip-flopping on the concept, Rivalz is a bit smarter than he appears, Will the man get a Geass?, or do count on it if you're so inclined
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27736459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysterySolver/pseuds/MysterySolver
Summary: There's nothing that Student Council Secretary Rivalz Cardemonde wants more than to have a fun high school life with his friends (all the while earning some money through his best pal's chess skills). Unfortunately, this is Code Geass, and the world has other plans for the Council.This is a story in which happy-go-lucky Rivalz has to contend with a universe that seems to be out to ruin the lives of everyone he holds dear, and how even he can have some form of influence when he knows what he has to lose.It's expected that you have watched 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion,' as this is a fanfiction of that show. Expect spoilers in some capacity.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 26





	1. Rivalz Cardemonde's Precious Little Life

**Author's Note:**

> **My first foray into the abyss of fan-made literature. I hope you enjoy, and do comment with your thoughts, be it immense praise or all-consuming hatred.**   
>  **Rivalz Cardemonde is probably one of my favorite characters in Code Geass, behind the big man Lulu himself and Rolo (maybe Suzaku too I'm not sure). I find him woefully underdeveloped, as he was hardly even a tangential character, but he had the potential to be much than he turned out to be. Rivalz sees Lelouch's chess matches, arguably the closest 'Lamperouge' gets to slipping off the mask in normal life, and would probably notice when he suddenly stops doing as many matches as a result of his work as the leader of a national resistance movement, so I think him coming to the absurdly unlikely conclusion that Lelouge is Zero is actually not too far-fetched.**   
>  **What happens when Rivalz is given slightly more involvement? Will it be virtually the same as the canon but from his perspective? Will the butterfly effect take control and spiral the story into chaos? Well, let's see how it turns out.**

On the curb outside the gates of Ashford Academy, a blue-haired boy was leaning against a motorcycle. While every other student, or rather, every other student who didn’t live on-campus, was filtering out the gates, the boy stood by his bike, waiting for a friend to show up.

Rivalz Cardemonde has long served as the driver for his friend Lelouch’s gambling excursions, and running late was nothing new for the man, but it was still somewhat annoying to have to wait for him for so long. _Poor guy probably got caught up in something Milly was planning_ , he mused in his head, _as much as I love her, I have no idea how we all managed to survive her reign for this long_.

In anticipation of a long wait --President Ashford’s designs cannot be predicted and often take a while to come to fruition--, Rivalz was desperately searching for something to keep his attention lest he die of boredom. Luckily for him, there was no need to pass the time, as he recognized Lelouch walking towards him. “Finally!” he declared, donning his helmet and goggles and mounting his motorbike, “It took you long enough, man!”

His friend chuckled. “Sorry, Shirley wanted to tell me something, but I think she must have forgotten it,” he said. “In any case, we have somewhere to go, don’t we?”

Internally, Rivalz was laughing. Knowing Shirley, she was probably trying to muster up the courage to ask him out. _Lelouch, you idiot! You can beat the greatest minds in the Area at chess yet you can’t see what’s right in front of you!_ The hilarity he felt at this fact was only outwardly conveyed by a grin. “You’re right! We _do_ have somewhere to go! Get in,” he said, “I know where we’re going.”

Lelouch complied and entered the bike’s sidecar as Rivalz revved it up. The duo soon exited Ashford’s campus and got on the highway, Rivalz focusing on the road and Lelouch lounging smugly in the sidecar.

Rivalz lived for this kind of stuff. Going around the city watching his buddy absolutely _embarrass_ the rich and powerful of Area Eleven at chess was an absolute hoot, and the not-paltry sum of money that the pair landed in the process was no downside. “So, Lelouch,” he began, “who’s your victim today?”

“Hm… some fool noble. I can’t recall his name,” Lelouch, smug as ever when approaching a chess match, replied with a dismissive tone. “In other news, did you hear about what Miss President is planning for her next… ‘event’?” he asked with less dismissal and significantly more concern.

“No, I didn’t. But don’t tell me!” Rivalz replied with a smile. “I like the surprise.” Another thing Rivalz absolutely adored about his life was the chaos that erupted in Ashford at Student Council President Milly’s whim. As boring as the normal school affairs were, they were much more intense when you had to be constantly vigilant of whatever shenanigans Milly had planned for the day. Lelouch, unknowingly the object of affection for much of the female student body, was more often than not the largest victim of whatever activity she cooked up, but despite his apprehensiveness towards the hijinks, Rivalz always thought he secretly enjoyed President Ashford’s schemes.

Lelouch shrugged and turned back to face the road. “Well, if you insist.”

After a decently long ride, the duo reached their destination, a building just within the Concession area. The dilapidated ghettos were visible from the floor they found themselves on. Rivalz, though he may be a privileged Britannian citizen, was never a fan of the fact that no effort seemed to have been put into Tokyo's rebuilding beyond the Concession area. In his view, it was an unnecessary cruelty to the conquered Elevens. Unfortunately, he was still a privileged Britannian citizen, and a high school student at that, so he didn't have the will nor the means to do anything about that cruelty. 

Lelouch gave his shoulder a quick tap and beckoned him to watch the match. Rivalz didn’t know too much about chess. He knew the basics, any Britannian who grew up with some means was at least aware of the movement of the pieces, but he was not a strategic or a tactical mind, nothing close to the genius that was Lelouch Lamperouge. Something he did know was that losing the King meant losing the game, so when he first saw Lelouch's typical strategy, he was as surprised as any first-time viewer of his friend when his plan of attack had his King take up the front lines. Now, after knowing how Lelouch played his games for a long time, Rivalz always found joy in seeing the shocked faces of the spectators whenever he went on his “If a king does not lead, how does he expect his subordinates to follow?” spiels.

Speaking of Lelouch, Rivalz always thought he acted like a completely different person whenever he was engrossed in a game of chess. The easygoing and cordial Student Council Vice President was replaced by a strategic genius with a flair for the dramatic and a well-deserved aura of confidence in his skills. The match he was currently engaged in appeared no different to his friend’s standard fare, as the noble was visibly struggling to keep up with Lelouch’s trademark aggressive style. He had the poor guy on the ropes! The small crowd of spectators looked on, engrossed in the teenage master's dismantling of the opposing army. It wasn’t long until the white King was cornered and the noble had to concede the match, as well as a large sum of money.

Rivalz found his way to Lelouch and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. “It never gets old seeing you in action. You’re a genius, man!” he said with a cheeky grin.

His violet-eyed friend gave a reserved chuckle as the pair exited the building. “Come on, Rivalz. You’ll have to get bored eventually,” he said, not denying his genius. “Here’s your cut,” he offered a portion of the winnings. A small minority of the amount he won, but still nothing to sneeze at. Lelouch liked playing high-stakes games.

“Man, how many times do I have to tell you you don’t have to pay me…” Rivalz said. In response, Lelouch gave an inquisitive look and slowly withdrew the handful of cash. Rivalz swiftly swiped at it. “N-not that I won’t accept it, of course!”

Lelouch put on a self-satisfied smirk, and wore it all the way back to the campus.

* * *

Ashford Academy, a prestigious private academy located in the heart of Area 11. Owned and operated by the once-noble Ashford family, the school has been lauded as a beacon of education under the tenure of headmaster Ruben Ashford. In addition to its reputation of academic success, the Academy offers a variety of clubs, including Equestrian, Swimming, Rugby, and most importantly to Rivalz, the Student Council.

The Student Council held a unique position within the school. Its more mundane responsibilities include distributing funds for the various clubs, but that’s not even close to the most important thing the Council does for its student body. It’s rumored among the students that a sizable percentage of incoming funding for the school is listed as going into “Shenanigans.” This rumor, like many, is rooted in some truth. The tenure of President Milly Ashford (granddaughter of the headmaster) has been defined by the spontaneous events that she often puts on to throw the Academy into chaos.

As mentioned previously, Rivalz always found these events absolutely _exhilarating._ The way Milly’s hijinks could completely destroy the mundane normalcy of his education even in the middle of class was hilarious to the fun-loving Secretary (and the fact that it was all Milly’s doing made him like it just that much more). 

At this time, a day after Lelouch and Rivalz’ most recent gambling excursion, the Student Council was holding a meeting. Though ostensibly official business, these meetings had minimal discussion on budgeting, and a vast amount of unrelated conversation. 

“You were out gambling again? How irresponsible.. What if you fell into something shady?” At this moment, Shirley Fenette, Student Council member and perhaps the most obsessive (and genuine, from Rivalz' point of view) of the many students who pine for Lelouch, was scolding him for his more risky tendencies.

“I assure you, Shirley, I doubt any of my opponents would ever risk their reputation and threaten me over something like a chess match,” Lelouch said with a resigned sigh, knowing that this assurance wouldn’t do much to allay her worries.

He was correct in that assumption. “But what if one of them _does?_ ” she asked. Lelouch gave another sigh.

“Oh, don’t worry about her. She probably just wants to be closer to her precious Lulu!” Milly butted in after finding a suitable chance to tease Shirley on the topic of her crush. Needless to say, her victim was not pleased with her hijinks. Shirley was blushing angrily at the provocation.

“Either way, there’s no way he would step into that kind of trouble. I know his process when it comes to finding an opponent, and it’s almost too thorough,” Rivalz said in defense of his friend. “If Lelouch is fine with it, you could come watch a match, Shirley. Seeing him in the zone might be the coolest thing I’ll ever see. As for seating, I’m secure enough to make Lelouch ride behind me.”

“N-no thanks!” Shirley declined, still immensely embarrassed by Milly’s taunts.

Rivalz shrugged and said “Suit yourself.”

As per usual, the only voice not heard during this conversation was the mousey Nina Einstein. Rivalz tended to call her the Student Council’s resident genius, which was no mean feat considering her competition was _Lelouch Lamperouge_. 

In Rivalz' mind, determining who of the two was smarter was too close to call; their geniuses were so different, it was almost an apples to oranges comparison. Lelouch had strategic acumen almost on par with Napoleon Bonaparte (though despised by the citizenry of Britannia, they did have to begrudgingly respect his military genius), and his charisma was such that he didn’t even need to be aware of it when he starts turning heads. Despite that, he had little motivation beyond a good challenge. Nina, on the other hand, was a top-marks academic prodigy, especially in the sciences, but her lack of presence was crippling, as indicated by not even noticeably reacting to the shenanigans the rest of the group were currently embroiled in.

“Nina, what do you make of this?” Milly, always wanting everyone to be involved, asked the demure girl as she worked away at her desk.

“W-what? I wasn’t really paying attention…” Nina responded, apparently too engrossed in her work to notice any of the happenings of the Student Council. Rivalz never could understand what she was doing, and cursory glances at her notes never revealed anything that he could make any sense of. He noticed some words, like “uranium” or “isotope”, but her work was far too complex for the only above-average mind of Rivalz (though little did he know, what she was doing was so bleeding edge that most experts only recently gleaned its potential). Even Lelouch, absolute mastermind he may be, struggled to understand the full nature of Nina’s project, but he did tell Rivalz that if it ever came to fruition it would be world-changing.

Having said his piece on the matter, Rivalz Cardemonde lounged upon his chair and laughed with contentment. For him, this was the life. Living the high school experience with friends that he can call his own was a dream for the blue-haired Secretary, but this was even better than that. With such a group as this one, he felt like he would have enough good memories to last him a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So ends the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed the sample of Rivalz's normal life. Heavens know how little you'll see of that again. Again, if you feel so inclined, you're free to comment your thoughts, love it unconditionally or hate it with all the power you can muster. It's always appreciated.**   
>  **Chapter length is going to vary depending on what I want done within the chapter. I'm not going to make a chapter long simply for the sake of having a long chapter. This one may be shorter than most, as all I wanted to do was provide a sample of Rivalz's status quo and establish the main cast of his side of the story (namely the student council).**   
>  **In addition to your opinions, if someone can tell me what the hell the name _Rivalz Cardemonde_ even came from, I'd appreciate that. I really couldn't find anything on that subject.**


	2. A Fun Ride Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Truck steals Rivalz' friend, hilarity ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Lovely comments, fellas. Very insightful and helpful, both on the question of Rivalz' etymology and on the necessary feedback.  
> **   
>  **I've taken (and will continue to take) some time to consider when and how this thing is going to go completely off the rails of canon, and I think I've found the best moment for it considering how I interpret Rivalz. In the meantime, I'm going to nudge it slightly in the most logical way one possibly could: giving Rivalz a tad bit more perception.**

He didn’t yet know it, but this was an outing that would change the course of history.

It started innocently enough, Rivalz and Lelouch were out on one of their chess-based gambling jaunts, and for all intents and purposes it was going as well as always. Rivalz picked Lelouch up at the gates, the duo took their trip to the location of their match, and Lelouch, this time around subbing in for a poor guy who got backed into a pretty tough spot, proceeded to thoroughly humiliate the noble opposing him in under nine minutes (as he predicted he would, of course)! Rivalz really doubted that he would ever grow tired of watching his friend’s strategic prowess in action. As usual, Lelouch got paid handsomely for his victory, and as usual, the duo departed on Rivalz’ motorbike.

Looking back, the moment he mounted his bike was probably the moment the universe took an interest in making his life a living hell, but it’s not like he could have possibly known that beforehand.

It wasn’t a terribly long drive back to Ashford, and Rivalz allowed his mind to wander to what he had in store for the rest of the day. Immediately after this were his classes for the day. He didn’t necessarily look forward to that, but who knows? Something could catch his interest or Milly could find a way to get everyone riled up and make that part so much more bearable. After that, he had the Student Council to look forward to. He has friends outside of that group, yes, but they were the type of friends that one would make out of necessity. Those who had a seat near yours in class. They weren’t the friends Rivalz would particularly care about seeing much of outside of the classroom. The Student Council, though? He’d be hard-pressed to overstate how much he liked being in that room, and not just because Milly was there. It was as if Rivalz identified as a member of Ashford’s Student Council first and as a Britannian second.

Back to the matter at hand, after the Student Council he would spend the rest of the evening bartending. It wasn’t always the most entertaining thing to do, but he would never ignore a chance to make some extra cash, and conversing with the patrons was sometimes a very interesting experience depending on who was at the table.

After his internal musing on the rest of his day, Rivalz decided to strike up a conversation with his passenger. “Say, Lelouch. You know how you really like saying that thing about a king having to be in the front lines?”

“Yes.  _ If a king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?” _ he responded, looking towards the road. Lelouch’s one-liners were always dripping with confidence and style, even in such a casual conversation. 

“Yeah… that. So, what’s with that? Do you want to run a big company or something?”

Lelouch scoffed. “I’d never dream of that. Sounds like it would ruin m-” his response was cut short by a blaring horn. The duo looked back to see a large truck almost right on top of them.

“What’s with the rush?” Rivalz asked, a bit miffed, road rage can get to even the most happy-go-lucky people. “I’m going as fast as I can!” Yet after a few seconds, the truck took a turn onto the...currently off-limits exit. Predictably, the pair heard a loud crash and saw a pile of smoke emerge to their left, and Rivalz slowed his bike to a stop. “Hey… was that my fault?” he asked.

“No, I doubt it. The driver entered the construction zone on his own accord,” Lelouch responded, looking over at the crashed truck. “Hey, do you see that?”

Rivalz, his bike in tow, peered over his friend’s shoulder. “Aside from the crashed truck, I don’t see anything. Are you alright, man?”

“I’m fine, just a mirage, I guess…” Lelouch shook his head, then he scanned his surroundings and his eyes narrowed. “They’re just watching without a care in the world… how contemptible,” he suddenly rushed to find a way down to the crash site, leaving Rivalz shocked.

“Hey, Lelouch! What about-”

“Don’t worry about me! I’ll see you later today. I can miss a few classes and still pass those tests with my eyes closed!” Lelouch called up, trying to placate his friend. He was right, of course, he could easily pass his tests, but that wasn’t really the point!

“I know it’s the right thing to do, but can that man ever stop showing off? Now we’re gonna be late for class…” Rivalz thought aloud, hauling his bike to a more suitable location to wait for Lelouch. He watched his friend pull on the debris blocking the truck’s cab. That attempt was in vain. Lelouch doesn’t exactly have… any athletic acumen to speak of, and that debris would be difficult for anyone to remove. Failing that, Lelouch climbed his way to the top of the trailer and swiftly fell right into it after the truck suddenly drove out of the crash site.

Wait, what?

“Woah! Hold on!” With all the speed he could muster, Rivalz got back on his bike and accelerated to follow the truck that inadvertently kidnapped his friend. As the truck got back on the highway, Rivalz noticed an oddly large number of helicopters in the area.

Questions on why that was were answered with the assistance of 1) a loudspeaker telling the driver of the truck to surrender and 2) gunfire. At the same time, of course. The contrast would be funny to Rivalz were it not for the fact that his friend’s life was in danger. Luckily for his own body, he was far enough away to not risk getting hit by a stray shot, but still diligently following the truck his friend was trapped in. If he was good at anything, it was evading notice and defusing drunk conflicts.

Rivalz was thinking it couldn’t get much more precarious, but he was proven wrong when a goddamn  _ Slash Harken  _ was shot out of the truck and destroyed one of the military craft shooting at it. This attack, of course, was followed by the terrorist truck unveiling a red Knightmare Frame.

At this point, Rivalz was beginning to mope about his terrible luck, but some form of salvation arrived in the form of another escalation of the conflict. This time the cause was another, probably more advanced Frame (Rivalz had only a cursory understanding on the history of military equipment), and it managed to get the red Glasgow, or whatever it was called, off the road and was pursuing it. Rivalz accelerated, getting close behind the truck. Keeping up speed, he took to the truck’s left side, his bike’s relatively thin form (even with the sidecar) giving him just enough clearance.

Speaking of his bike, it seemed increasingly likely that he was going to have to lose it today. Despite being out of the action enough to not get shot at, he was probably within view of at least one of those old aircraft, meaning that, to the military, his bike would be a dead giveaway that he was somehow involved with a terrorist plot. It wasn’t too big of a problem for him financially, he saved a pretty large amount between his cut of the bets and his job at the bar, but he still liked the thing. 

He drove up to the ladder extending from the side of the truck. After he chose his course of action, his first thought was  _ What is this, a goddamn movie? _ This thought was followed by some combination of excitement, terror, and immense sadness due to the violent loss of his bike. This is because the course of action he took was to jump from his bike onto the ladder and then hold on for dear life. It, somehow, worked out in his favor. He hoped that maybe his luck was starting to turn around. That hope was crushed when he heard more gunfire and was suddenly jerked into the truck’s side after a really sharp turn into the old metro tunnels, only managing to hang on due to the absolute death grip he had on the ladder.

Taking his time to recover from that shock, Rivalz silently thanked the driver for slowing down as he climbed the ladder. “Okay… the hatch up here was obviously open when he fell in, maybe there’s a way to open it from the outside?” he asked himself, searching for some kind of handle or latch. Luckily, he found one. Doubly so, it was unlocked. He opened it.

“Hey! Buddy, are you alright?” he yelled into the trailer.

There was a few seconds of silence. “Rivalz? What are you doing? How did you get here?” Lelouch asked. Reasonable questions, of course.

“Umm… It’s hard for me to really get how I managed to survive that mess, but I’m here because I saw you fall into the truck, and I would never let my best source of income get kidnapped like that!” Rivalz said with a grin. He reached his arm down into the trailer. “Listen, the truck is going pretty slow, so grab on. I’m not much of a strong guy, but I could probably lift a stick figure like you out of here,” he said, eliciting a slight chuckle from Lelouch.

Lelouch grasped his friend’s arm. “Hey, one of the terrorists dropped their communicator… if we find any military we can hand this in and probably get some form of protection,” he said, as forward-thinking as always. “Alright, get me-”

Another stroke of bad luck struck the two friends. There was a damaged part of the metro system that the driver, halfway dead from the gunfire, couldn’t react to. As a result of the truck falling into that little hole, Rivalz’ momentum forced him into the trailer with Lelouch. “Oh, come on!” he complained, rubbing on his head, “Am I God’s new favorite chew toy or something?”

“You and me both,” Lelouch replied, shaking his head. “What terrible luck.”

Seemingly at random, a sliding door opened to the pair’s side, which ten seconds later led to Rivlaz becoming the victim of a flying kick to the face.

Lelouch stared in shock. “A Britannian Soldier? Now hold on-” 

“Poison gas? Why won’t you stop the killing?” the soldier interrupted.

“Poison gas? If there’s any poison gas here, it would’ve been developed by Britannia, right? If you want to stop the killing, then destroy Britannia!” That was a sentiment that Rivalz didn’t expect his friend to harbor, but considering his normally indifferent attitude toward the Empire (and future information about his lineage), it made sense when he had the chance to reflect.

The soldier stood silent for a second. Initially, Rivalz assumed he was shocked from what he was hearing. Such vitriol towards Britannia from one of her own? He didn’t blame him for being a bit surprised. Of course, he learned that wasn’t the case when the soldier uttered “Lelouch?” and took off his helmet, evoking a look of shock in Lelouch (and Rivalz, as it was an Eleven under the helmet).

“Suzaku? You joined the Britannian Military?” Rivalz’ friend said.

“And you joined a Terrorist cell?” the soldier replied.

Rivalz, sufficiently recovered, started to speak up. “Woah, woah! That’s not right! Lelouch and I… kinda just got roped into this mess. Complete accident, I swear on-” a bright light interrupted him, originating from the poison gas canister!

“Get down! Hold your breath!” the soldier, Suzaku, yelled as he rushed towards Lelouch, forcing his gas mask onto his mouth. Rivalz, no mask in sight, had no choice but to comply with the Eleven’s, or more likely Honorary Britannian’s, order.

Yet no gas was emitted from the sphere when it opened. Instead, a bound, green-haired woman was released from the thing containing her. “No poison gas?” was the question of the hour, running through the minds of all three people involved in the scenario. Lelouch rushed to catch the woman before she fell to the ground and sat her up as Suzaku began to unbind her.

“What’s this about, Suzaku? What’s with this girl?” Lelouch immediately started questioning.

“I-I don’t know… the briefing said it was poison…” Suzaku responded.

“Hey, guys, let me help,” Rivalz said, kneeling beside the girl and unlatching some of the binds.

A flash of light cut their efforts short, and a military officer surrounded by his subordinates appeared. Suzaku rushed to his superior to explain the situation, but the officer was apparently undeterred. “I can’t shoot them, sir! They aren’t terrorists, they’re civilians who got roped into this mess!”

“Well, then I guess you’re going to have to die with them,” the officer said, shooting the friendly soldier in the side.

“Suzaku!” Lelouch had a tone of anguish, one that Rivalz has never heard from him in his entire life.

“Well, you two may look like well-adjusted Britannian students, but it looks like today was a bad day for you,” the officer trained his gun on the pair, and his subordinates did in kind. “After you retrieve the girl, kill those terrorists!”

A sudden explosion erupted from the truck behind the students, covering their escape with the captive green-haired girl. They ran for it, the adrenaline allowing even the likes of Lelouch to run without tiring out.

“What the hell what the hell what the hell…” Rivalz repeated as the duo, now a trio due to the girl’s addition, ran through the metro. Chaos was apparently erupting on the surface, as explosions were rocking the ground at regular intervals.

“What the hell do they want from you?” Lelouch, still anguished, asked the girl as they ran. “Why are you so important that they would level their own city? Not to mention… Britannia killed Suzaku!”

Rivalz would have to ask his friend about Suzaku when the time was more appropriate, but he held his tongue. Finally, the group found their way to a staircase going up, to freedom!

“Stay back…” Lelouch said, peeking at the floor above. “Damn, those soldiers are here…”

Lelouch’s phone rang, and all three of them jumped. He swiftly turned it off, but the damage was done.  _ Seriously? This is how it’s gonna end? A ringtone? _ Rivalz despaired over the circumstances of his likely death. All of those heroics, losing his bike, all to die because of a ringtone? His despair was replaced with fear before long, as he and his companions were violently retrieved from their hiding spot. Him and Lelouch were forced upon the wall while the green-haired girl was separated from them.

The officer was saying… something, but that was drowned out by Rivalz’ terror at his seemingly impending death. Another emotion that was again cut short by some absolutely insane shenanigans. This time, the girl broke from her captivity and took the shot from the officer meant for Lelouch.

_ What the hell? _ Rivalz and Lelouch kneeled before the crumpled form of the captive girl. The officer was still talking, but Rivalz was much more engrossed with the fact that she took a shot like that at all, especially for someone she didn’t know about until a few minutes ago. Of course, even more surprising was when the girl grasped Lelouch’s hand in a manner far too fast for someone who got shot in the head.  _ What the hell? _ Rivalz asked himself again.

Only a few seconds later Lelouch stood up with an aura of confidence familiar to Rivalz. This felt like when he had someone’s number in chess, but it felt weirdly out of place when soldiers were pointing assault rifles at him. “Tell me, how should a Britannian who hates Britannia live?”

“Oh, you guys are radicals!” the officer smirked, the gun still trained on Lelouch.

“What’s wrong? I’m just a student, so why not just shoot me?” Lelouch asked.

“You probably shouldn’t provoke the guy with a gun,” Rivalz, standing behind Lelouch, tried to calm his friend, but to no avail. Lelouch was completely ignoring him, doing one of his monologues, a staple of his chessmaster persona.

“Or did you realize that only those who are prepared to die are those who should kill? I, Lelouch vi Britannia, order you to  **die!** ”

Wait, did he just say-

“Yes, your highness!” the soldiers all yelled in unison, as they pointed their guns at their own necks and fired as one, all of them killing themselves.

Rivalz looked on in shock. 

“...What the hell _?” _ he asked at no one in particular. His mind was still processing pretty much everything that occurred over the last few minutes, and it looked to him that even  _ Lelouch _ was shocked at what just happened.

Were there not several corpses surrounding him, Rivalz would’ve found Lelouch being shocked at something pretty funny, but the aura in the building was certainly not very permissive to laughter.

Presumably, Lelouch got himself together far faster than Rivalz did, considering his friend grabbed his arm to get his attention. “Rivalz, whatever this power is, I’d prefer to not use it on a friend. Please, tell me why I shouldn’t force you to forget my identity,” he said.

Thinking quickly, probably quicker than he ever had, Rivalz conjured a response. “Why would I tell anyone? Hanging out with you would be really hard if you’re bogged down in some royal family crap, wouldn’t it?”

Lelouch loosened his grip on Rivalz’ wrist. “Indeed it would. I’m satisfied,” he let go. “You should get out of here. I assure you, I’ll see you at school.

Normally, Rivalz would protest at the thought of leaving his friend in a warzone, but considering his confidence and the fact that he would probably just do whatever he did to those soldiers and force him to leave, he gave a quick “...Alrighty, see ya!” and ran down the stairs, still thinking only one thing.

_ Seriously, what the hell!? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Fairly standard fare, in my opinion, but hey, hope it was an enjoyable form of 'fairly standard.'  
> **   
>  **I'd like to see those other stories you mentioned, Awareness_Bringer, if only because I want to see more Rivalz-centric fics. There was a nice little post-Requiem oneshot that a fellow made from his perspective and I really liked it.**


	3. A New Friend and a Dead Viceroy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tale of a redhead, champagne, and the sudden death of a provincial governor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Been a little while, huh? Truth be told, I probably have to plan this out more comprehensively, so between that and other obligations, I think its going to go a bit slow for some time. It's no coincidence that these updates tend to occur around holiday seasons. Doubly annoying is that I tend to drop everything when I have a new idea, and I have a new idea. Obviously I want this work to get going before I devote time to that, but its an uphill battle.**   
>  **Speaking of holidays, Happy holidays, fellow A4O members and/or guests! I hope you enjoy.**

Somehow, despite the terrible fortune that got him in this situation in the first place, Rivalz seemed to be in luck when it came to not getting shot today. Escape from the hell that Shinjuku became because of the ‘poison gas’ incident wasn’t too difficult. He managed to retrace his steps back to the pile of exploded rubble that used to be a truck and traced further back to find his way out of the subway and back to the relative safety of the Concession Area. The entrance to the subway wasn’t guarded, Rivalz reasoned that it was a result of the government’s desperate attempt to regain the green-haired girl, if that officer was any indication.

As a result of that minor oversight by the military, Rivalz found himself in a classroom the next day, very much alive and very much waiting for Lelouch. In the morning, he tried to call his friend to see if he was safe, but got no response. So here he was, acting like nothing weird ever happened while desperately waiting to see his  _ literal prince best buddy  _ safe and sound.

“That’s still really weird to think about,” he thought aloud. Lelouch Lamperouge, master of coasting through his school year, a prince? It was a good cover, he had to admit.

After what seemed like forever, the familiar black hair and thin form of the royal-in-hiding came into view, and Rivalz breathed a sigh of relief. Gathering himself, he beckoned his friend over.

“Hey, buddy!” Rivalz asked, then he whispered “I can still call you that, right? You’re not gonna make poor old Rivalz call you  _ your highness _ , right, man?”

“That won’t be necessary, Rivalz. If I wanted to be called that, I wouldn’t be under an assumed name. Not to mention, you’re already my chauffeur,” Lelouch said with his ‘layabout student’ demeanor.

“Oh, come on, no need for that…” Rivalz groaned with exaggerated despair.

“Why not? It’s the truth!” Lelouch chuckled.

“Well true or not, I have bad news… my bike is dead. Gone for good. Jumped off it when I managed to catch up to the truck,” Rivalz lamented the loss of the bike that was second in his heart only to Prez herself. “I’ll miss her… but I think I saved up enough for a new one. Enough about me, though. You have a damn  _ superpower _ now! What’s next for Lelouch Lamperouge? Gonna be a hero?”

“As much as I like the idea, I don’t exactly think I’m cut out for that type of business,” Lelouch said.

“Really? That’s a shame… though I guess brainwashing is a villain thing…” Rivalz replied. “Anyway, how the hell did you manage to survive?”

“Used this… power, whatever it is. Managed to steal a Knightmare and get out of there alive. Piloting that Ganymede for the School Festival really paid off in the end, didn’t it?”

“Seriously? You tell me to get out of there, and you commit  _ grand theft Knightmare? _ ” Rivalz asked in a strained whisper. “Dang, I guess I’m glad you kept me out of your fun this time around…”

Lelouch wasn’t focused on the conversation anymore. It seemed something else caught his eye. Rivalz turned around and found the object of Lelouch’s sudden attention. “Oh? She caught your eye?” Rivalz asked. “Kallen Stadtfeld? She’s from nobility, right? You got some high standards, bud…” He saw Shirley glimpse at them out of the corner of his eye and immediately recognized that he was a bit too loud. He felt pretty terrible about that, but kept listening to Lelouch.

“Rivalz, if that’s how you want to interpret my interest, then by all means do so. I’m going to talk to her at lunch,” his friend responded, ever oblivious to Shirley’s gaze.

“Buddy, listen,” Rivalz said with a barely kept-together deadpan tone, “You’re a good friend, man, but if you abuse your cool new power to compel her to do anything she wouldn't do otherwise, I will definitely hate you for it.”

Lelouch chuckled. “Rivalz, I will not delude myself into thinking that I’m a good man, but please, give me  _ some _ credit,” Rivalz shared a laugh with his friend and classes began.

Classes were a blur to Rivalz. They were on a normal day, but even more so on a day like this. He spent the school day desperately keeping track of information he learned recently. For one, again, his best friend was a prince. That’s probably going to be insane to think about for a  _ long  _ time. This fact also meant that Lelouch’s sister was also Royalty. A prince and his blind sister hiding out on the opposite side of the world from his homeland? And that prince hates his own country? There’s probably a story behind that, one that Rivalz will not request details on, that would probably be unnecessary and a little cruel.

Second to that, the news always called the massacre at Shinjuku a ‘poison gas attack’. That was obviously false. The terrorists didn’t have gas, they had a girl! Suppression of information wasn’t anything new to Rivalz. Some of the music he liked to listen to was heavily restricted as a result of being created by European artists (though if he looked in the right places he could find what he wanted to find), but this news report was baffling in its falsity.

Intellectually, knew his country wasn’t particularly amazing. He never bought into the jingoistic attitude that was so ubiquitous in his fellow citizens, but that was primarily because Lelouch wasn’t one to care for it that much himself. He always sympathized with the plight of the Areas and their Numbers. Britannia’s treatment of them was pretty appalling, but he never had the chance to live through that terror until the day Lelouch got his power. Seeing firsthand the depths Britannia’s military could sink to was a massive eye-opener that he couldn’t really process until he had enough time to think on it. He was frustrated. He knew his country was pretty damn rotten, but what could he do? Sure, he was a friend to members of their royalty, but Lelouch and Nunnally were probably dead in their eyes.

Luckily, the next morning gave him a reason to table that frustration for the time being. The student council was having an early session. Bar Lelouch, who was late (to a meeting in the clubhouse he lives in, Rivalz didn’t forget), everyone was present “So, guys, we might be getting a new member!” Milly said, cheerful as ever.

“For real?” Rivalz asked. A new member of the family! That’s great!

“For real!” Milly smiled. “It’s going to be Kallen Stadtfeld. My grandfather recommended it, actually. Considering her health, she’s not very likely to join the other clubs, and despite being out so frequently, her marks are really good. I think she’d make an amazing addition!”

“You’re just excited to have someone else to mess with, Prez,” Rivalz grinned. “Though I’m all for a new member!” 

_ ‘Isn’t that something?’  _ he thought to himself.  _ ‘Counting Nunnally, who’s an honorary member, we already have two royals in the Student Council, now we might get a noble? Makes me feel more inadequate than I already did…’ _

“Well, she has to be in a club, so I doubt she’ll decline…” Shirley said, and Nina meekly nodded along.

“Either way, we’re going to have to celebrate this, guys!” Milly shouted, getting the attention of everyone in the room.

A brilliant idea suddenly came upon Rivalz. “My boss owes me a favor. I think I can get something from him,” he said with a grin.

Shirley frowned after processing the secretary’s statement. “Rivalz, don’t you work at a-”

“What? What are you talking about? You’re thinking of someone else, Shirley,” Rivalz,  _ smoothly  _ and  _ unsuspiciously _ replied, deftly hiding his true machinations to the rest of the council.

“Well, whatever he’s getting, I’m sure it’ll be great,” Milly said with a smile, Rivalz gathered that she was distracting from the issue mostly because she was intrigued as to what he would get from someone who ran a bar. “In any case, I think we can adjourn for the morning. I hope to see everyone when we induct our new member.”

With that, the members present went their separate ways.

* * *

For Rivalz’ plan to come to fruition, he had to exit campus during lunch and hit up the bar he worked at. He called in advance, of course, and when he got there the item he requested was provided to him. He had to move quickly, but he managed to make it to the clubhouse and hide the item before anyone else managed to catch him.

Having nothing better to do, Rivalz left for the clubhouse after class let out. Milly, along with the rest of the girls, arrived shortly after. “Oh, Rivalz! I didn’t expect you to show up this early,” Shirley said. “We were trying to help Nina find her lab data, but I managed to catch it before we saw you.”

“Good, I wouldn’t want to be on a fetch quest, would I?” Rivalz responded. “Is everything set up?”

The trio nodded in affirmation, but the conversation was cut short when Lelouch and Kallen entered. Lelouch was confused as to why everyone was here, but that was cleared up when Milly explained that Kallen was being inducted. While that was occurring, Rivalz stepped out of the group to get his prize: A bottle of champagne. “Well, now that everyone’s here, how about a toast?” Rivalz revealed the bottle to the rest of the students, and the reactions were as expected. Shirley had a look of indignance, Milly a mischievous smile, Lelouch his default smirk, and Nina a meek wince.

“Is that champagne? I knew you were up to something!” Shirley grasped for the bottle, but Rivalz held it away from her. “Give me that! You know we can’t have alcohol here!”

Nina nodded in agreement. “She’s right, we’re just students…”

“What are you saying, Shirley? Champagne? This is sparkling cider, completely non-alcoholic, I swear on my dad!” Rivlalz said with a cheeky grin.

“Really? Let me see…” Shirley was, obviously, still suspicious.

Rivalz then inadvertently took the path that led to the funniest outcome possible. “Hey, Lelouch, heads up!” He threw the bottle at his unathletic friend, who managed to catch it with a bit of fumbling. 

Shirley’s attention was then firmly on her crush, though with annoyance rather than infatuation. “Oh, you’re not going to get away with-” she stopped. The bottle was too aggravated by the jostling and the toss. This caused the cork to fire out of the bottle and, along with much of its contents, straight at the soon-to-be member of the Student Council Kallen Stadtfeld.

She swatted the cork away with a display of agility that was impressive for a normal person, let alone someone with her lack of constitution. Unfortunately, you can’t karate chop liquid, and she was drenched by the champagne that followed the cork.

Rivalz was trying, and succeeding, at not laughing at the situation that he accidentally caused. “Ah, crap. Sorry about that, Kallen…” he said, and he wasn’t lying despite how funny he saw the incident.

“So it  _ was _ champagne,” Shirley turned to Rivalz. “You swore on your dad!”

“My dad’s an asshole,” Rivalz responded. “Your fault for not knowing that.”

As the two squabbled, Lelouch turned to Kallen. “There’s a shower in the clubhouse. I can show you the way,” he said, leading her away from the crowd.

As they left the area, Milly shook her head. “What a shame…” she lamented, “...I wish I could’ve had a sip of that. Anyway, I think this induction was a resounding success!” Of course she would. It was chaotic fun, right down Madame President’s alley.

“You’re welcome,” Rivalz said with his standard smile, ending another day of student council weirdness.

* * *

The next day, Kallen entered the Student Council room just as any other member would. “Welcome to your first day on the job, Ms. Stadtfeld! Buckle down, we have a lot of work to do,” Milly said, referring to the mountain of paperwork on the table.

Lelouch was reclining on his chair. “I’d much prefer it if we didn’t have this much paperwork. Budgeting is such a pain…” he complained.

“Hear, hear!” Rivalz emphatically agreed. “I mean, who comes up with these clubs? The Fantasy Seduction Club literally walks around in fetish gear. Not that I’m against that, but it’s still a weird thing to turn into a club,” he yawned. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, I think I’m gonna take a nap…”

He nodded off for all of half a minute before he heard a sound that shook the Academy to its foundations. It horrified Rivalz. Was it an earthquake? A Knightmare? An eldritch abomination rising to consume all? No, it was Milly casting her most powerful incantation:  **“GUTS!”** Rivalz shot awake and almost fell out of his seat.

“Agh! Geez!” he gasped. “...hate it when that happens.”

“Aren’t you energized? That’s what makes my spell so special!” Milly smiled.

“Well, if you put it like that… I guess I could stand for some productivity today,” Rivalz said. What was he gonna do? Refuse to play along with Milly’s game? Even if he wanted to, it was impossible to escape her if one found himself in the Council room.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” Lelouch patted his friend’s back. “I’m stuck here with you, too.”

After a day with her on the council, Rivalz’ first impression of Kallen was that she was pretty similar to Nina, insofar as being a timid girl who rarely spoke up, but every time she so much as heard the word “eleven,” especially if it came out of the mouth of the nervous scientist, he saw a flicker, a very short flicker, of contempt, as though she held some special disdain for the use of that number. Rivalz couldn’t gather why that was. Kallen was nobility, after all.  _ Actually, considering Lelouch… I shouldn’t base my assumption on that… Maybe her opinions are more radical than one would think. She doesn’t seem like the type to hold such strong beliefs… _

Speaking of Lelouch, he asked Rivalz to stay behind after the meeting adjourned. “You needed something, man?” he asked.

“Actually, yes I do. Not as Lelouch Lamperouge, lazy chessmaster, but as Lelouch vi Britannia, thought-to-be-deceased prince. I want to talk about something. But, you have to agree, under no circumstances can any of this leave this room,” he said, his eye notably void of bird-like symbols.

“Okay, but why not just use that power to force me to not speak about this?” Rivalz asked, unsure if that was actually the case.

“I’d prefer not to. You, Shirley, and Nina may have only known me under a false name, but I really did grow to enjoy being with the Student Council. It wouldn’t sit right with me if I compelled you to do anything against your will. Unless a life is at risk with my inaction, I’ll never compel a member of the Student Council with my ability,” the Prince replied.

“Ah, that’s good to hear…” Rivalz said before  _ it _ hit him. “Wait… you forgot Milly.”

“I did omit her name, didn’t I?” Lelouch smiled, waiting for Rivalz to come to the correct conclusion.

“You’re not saying that… she knows, right?”

“That I am. She’s known from the beginning. It’s why I live in the clubhouse. While they were nobles, her family was a strong supporter of my mother, so when I was exiled and later thought dead seven years ago, they brought me into Ashford Academy and, by extension, its clubhouse. I really do owe alot to her and her family.”

“She knew? For seven years?” Rivalz asked, in shock. This wasn’t like the Milly he knew! “And here I thought she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life…”

“I’m as surprised as you are, Rivalz,” Lelouch said with a chuckle. “Now, have you researched my story?”

“Nope. I thought it would be disrespectful to a friend to pry into their life like that,” Rivalz said truthfully.

“Good. I want to tell you about it myself. I’d much rather you hear it from my own mouth than from the  _ propaganda piece _ they call a history book,” Lelouch said, disdain filling the latter half of his sentence.

“If you say so, man,” Rivalz said, and Lelouch began.

His friend’s story was… as horrifying and tragic as expected. His serene life with his beloved sister and mother ripped from him by ‘terrorists’ (Lelouch was adamant that they were  _ not _ terrorists) who killed his mother and horribly maimed Nunnally, his exile after confronting his father (Rivalz had to admire the guts young Lelouch had, talking down the Emperor himself), and his experience in Japan during the War all painted a saddening picture. He could see why his friend would rather tell him about it himself, the ‘terrorist’ thing in particular set Lelouch off.

“Wow, I can see why you said you hated Britannia back then…” Rivalz said, in one of the rare times when he wasn’t smiling. “So, what now? You have a superpower, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know… I’m probably going to keep on laying low, honestly,” Lelouch said. Rivalz didn’t know it, but that was probably the biggest lie anyone has ever told. Rivalz may be a good friend, but he wouldn’t be a fan of Lelouch if he found out that he gunned down Clovis.

Rivalz may not have been completely convinced that Lelouch would do  _ nothing _ with his newfound power, but trusted his friend enough to drop the subject there. “Listen, man. I may not know what it’s like to have a dad who’s the ruler of an entire nation, but I know what it’s like to have a dad who’s a massive prick. I can at least help in that regard,” he said in a rare, completely serious tone. “Er, don’t go saying I called the Emperor a prick, please,” he amended.

Lelouch held for a second, then chuckled. “Like I said, Rivalz. None of this leaves this room.”

* * *

Rivalz spent his evening bartending. He was a decent fan of his job. He was paid well enough (though he didn’t receive nearly as much per day as certain particularly profitable runs with Lelouch earned him) and he often found himself enjoying his interactions with the customers. On some occasions he noticed one of the nobles that Lelouch trounced earlier that day and imagined that the poor guy was there to ease the shame of losing at chess to some high schooler, and Rivalz always found that thought to be morbidly funny.

It was a particularly slow day, which made sense considering it was a weekday, but Rivalz found himself with nothing better to do besides watching (rather, placing his eyes on without paying much attention to) the television.

A headline did finally manage to catch his eye, though. It wasn’t a major story, just one about the assassination of the Area’s Viceroy, who happened to be Price Clovis la Britannia. Business as usual in the Holy Britannian Empire.

Rivalz wasn’t one to be particularly affected by a national leader’s death. He paid proper respects, sure, but it was hard for him to really feel mourning for a guy he only knew through sometimes-annoying speeches. He’d have to give his condolences to Lelouch, but he himself wasn’t too adversely affected until he saw the name of the person accused. That name being  _ Suzaku Kururugi _ , with a picture of a familiar face: the Honorary Britannian that he saw in Shinjuku.

_ ‘Hold on, wasn’t he dead?’ _ Rivalz thought.  _ ‘I mean, I guess it's not impossible for someone to survive a solid shot to the side, but he must be pretty damn tough… and besides that, he doesn’t seem to be the type of person to assassinate the Viceroy,’  _ He chose to call Lelouch.

It was a few tones until his friend picked up.  _ “Hello?” _

“Hey, buddy, it’s Rivalz… I guess you saw the news, right?”

_ “I… have seen the news, yes.” _

“Well, sorry for your loss, man.”

_ “Thank you, but I haven’t really seen him in seven years. I’m much more concerned about the other thing, in all honesty.” _

“Yeah, you know him more than I do, so I have to ask you this. You wouldn’t say that Suzaku would be the type of person to murder a political figure in the middle of his office, would you?”

_ “No, I would not… I doubt it was actually his doing, Rivalz. The higher-ups probably couldn’t find out who actually did it, so they made Suzaku a scapegoat. Probably ‘found’ evidence, too. It’s despicable, but not unheard of.” _ Rivalz could clearly hear the sarcasm he said “found” with.

“Wow… that’s rough. I hope he can find his way out of this one. I mean, he managed to get out of whatever the hell happened in Shinjuku,” Rivalz said, hoping against hope.

_ “As do I, Rivalz. As do I,” _ Lelouch said while planning out exactly how to best save Suzaku from inevitable execution.  _ “Well… I’ll see you tomorrow,”  _ he hung up.

Still a bit troubled, Rivalz cleaned another glass. His country was more of a mess than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mildly annoyed by how I capped off the Shinjuku bit, but any encounter I could think of would probably end with him getting turned to swiss cheese. Another lesson in favor of advance planning, I suppose.**   
>  **Seriously though, any advice on not overwhelming myself with new ideas? This isn't even just applicable to fics, just in general.**


End file.
